The Female CEO's Personal Bodyguard

Chapter 1438: Chapter 1438: Put Down the Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus, and I’ll Let You Go!

The information from the Wind Listening Studio can’t be considered exclusive, but it is comprehensive. However, this information holds little practical value for Carson Flores.

Many matters have already transpired; even knowing about them afterward wouldn’t change anything.

Even the most powerful cultivator cannot traverse time to return to a previous point in time.

Among all the bits of information was the mention of a ”Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus” that was less than a hundred years old. It was inconspicuous amidst the rest, but it caught Carson Flores’s attention.

The Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus is an exceptionally unique type of lotus flower. This lotus doesn’t produce lotus seeds nor can it be used to make medicine, but its petals can be utilized in Artifact Refining.

Using the lotus petals of the Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus as the primary material, combined with other substances, one can refine a supremely powerful Defense Treasure—the Nine Dragons Lotus Platform!

The Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus is a celestial anomaly among lotuses and is classified as a rare Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure. It cannot be transplanted, and its growth cycle is extremely slow.

The Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus requires a millennium to reach maturity and bloom. After maturing, it requires at least another two thousand years to achieve the quality needed to refine the Nine Dragons Lotus Platform. Before this point, it has little to no purpose.

It either fully matures and becomes immensely valuable, or it remains immature and utterly useless.

Compared to the extensive three-thousand-year cycle, a Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus less than a hundred years old would hardly draw any attention. At most, someone might mark its location and document it, planning to guard and harvest it closer to the appropriate time.

This was in the Blackstone Mountain Range, where demonic beasts roamed freely. Posting guards for three thousand years over a single Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus here was hardly feasible.

Carson Flores left the market district and headed straight for the location of the Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus.

The Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus was situated in a canyon where Immortal Spirit Qi flowed abundantly. From the mountain above, a stream cascaded and formed a deep pool, within which the Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus thrived.

At this moment, the Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus had grown only a few leaves. Carson Flores began setting up a Formation across the canyon—to conceal the scenery below and to prevent any disturbances from large Spiritual Energy fluctuations.

Once everything was in place, Carson Flores took out the Life Essence Pearl and began accelerating the growth of the lotus.

Immortal Spirit Qi was injected into the Life Essence Pearl before being transformed into immense vitality, which was rapidly absorbed by the Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus. Soon, its initially curled leaves began gradually unfolding, and their pale green color started to deepen.

It was working!

Carson Flores calmed himself, focusing entirely on channeling Immortal Spirit Qi through the Life Essence Pearl and delivering it to the Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus.

This process required considerable amounts of time.

Although the Life Essence Pearl possessed acceleration capabilities, a three-thousand-year growth cycle wasn’t something that could be completed instantly.

Carson Flores remained patient. After all, for cultivators, one or two years spent in closed-door training was scarcely worth mentioning.

As time stretched on, the Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus transitioned from a seedling to a frenzied state of growth, quickly filling the vast pool. Each of its leaves had become enormous, exuding an imposing aura of boundless vitality—truly reminiscent of ”lotus leaves touching the skies, an infinite sea of green.”

A massive flower bud gradually began to open. The lotus’s bloom stretched over ten meters in diameter, with each petal radiating dazzling rainbow hues. It was dignified and sacred, and the air was infused with a sweet fragrance that tempted one to succumb to rapture.

When the Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus finally reached full maturity, seven-colored rays of light shot skyward as if signaling the arrival of a divine artifact into the world. Fortunately, Carson Flores had set up formations beforehand; the light was contained within the formation, though small traces and scents still managed to escape.

”It’s finally matured...”

Before Carson Flores could finish his remark, a sudden surge of aggressive and overwhelming power erupted nearby. In an instant, a massive figure crashed into his formation.

The formation Carson Flores had constructed was designed only to conceal energy signatures; it couldn’t withstand such a brutal assault and shattered instantly.

The entire canyon and pool, previously hidden, were now exposed to the sunlight, with a colossal white ape towering over two hundred meters at the canyon entrance, staring intently in their direction. On its shoulder stood a young man, flanked by two elderly men with white hair levitating on either side.

All three individuals and the white ape directed their gaze at the enormous lotus flower in the canyon below, simultaneously crying out in surprise.

”The Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus!”

The young man perched on the white ape’s shoulder burst into laughter. ”No wonder William White kept coming back to this area. I couldn’t pull him away—ha-ha-ha!”

Carson Flores’s expression shifted slightly, but he remained calm and composed.

By this point, the Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus was fully mature. With a wave of his hand, the enormous lotus flower separated neatly from its stem, drifting upward until it landed in Carson Flores’s grip. Moments later, he stored it directly into his Space Ring.

The young man laughed again and said, ”Friend, if you put down that Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus, we won’t make things difficult for you. You’re free to leave of your own accord.”

Carson Flores replied calmly, ”Why should I?”

The young man chuckled and said, ”The Blackstone Mountain Range may be remote, but it falls within the territory of our Winter Thunder Sect. That Nine Dragons Immortal Lotus had already been marked by us. We’ve been patiently awaiting its maturity. Initially, we thought it might take a while longer, but it seems to have ripened early. Unfortunately, we arrived late.”

Carson Flores smiled. ”The Blackstone Mountain Range spans tens of thousands of miles. Even the Infinite Sword Sect doesn’t dare claim the entire range as its domain, barring other cultivators from adventuring here or harvesting its treasures. For your Winter Thunder Sect to declare so—aren’t you exaggerating a bit?”